Will I have to close my bank account?

If you have debts with your bank, they can take money owed from the account your wages are paid into, whether you can afford it or not. This is called the Right of Offset. Such debts can be in the form of an overdraft, credit card balance or personal loan.

Therefore we do advise that you arrange a new basic banking facility before starting your IVA, if your current bank holds some of the debt that is to be placed in the IVA.

People entering into an IVA usually already have some adverse credit history and find it difficult to open a bank account. In this case you need to open a non-credit bearing basic account with a bank that you don’t owe money to.

As an IVA is a private matter, your new bank/finance provider does not need to know about your IVA. Talk to one of our advisors for more information.